What are the long-term dangers of marijuana?

Regular use of marijuana shows the same respiratory problems as cigarette smoking. Persistent coughing, symptoms of bronchitis and more frequent chest colds are possible symptoms.

Studies shows that long-term use of marijuana suppresses the production of hormones that help regulate the reproductive system both in men and women.

Highly increases the risk of heart attack in regular users.

Smoking marijuana on regular basis increases the likelihood of developing cancer of the head or neck.

It has the potential to promote cancer of the lungs and other parts of the respiratory tract because of the various carcinogens present in it.

It may badly affect the immune system’s ability to fight disease.

Chronic marijuana use causes high levels of depression, anxiety.

Adversely affects the power of memory and learning.

Marijuana is a greenish-gray mixture of the dried, shredded leaves, stems, seeds, and flowers of Cannabis sativa, the hemp plant. The main active chemical present in marijuana is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol). Apart from this it contains around 400 other dangerous chemicals. Most users smoke marijuana with the help of hand-rolled cigarettes, some use pipes or water pipes called bongs. Special marijuana cigars called as blunts are very popular. Marijuana is also used to brew tea and is sometimes mixed into foods.

Most users of this drug would say that there are very few if any dangers of marijuana. However, marijuana is a dangerous substance. A February 2001 article in The British Journal of Psychiatry states that cannabis (marijuana) use can "cause dose related impairments of psychomotor performance with implications for car and train driving, airplane piloting, and academic performance."

The dangers of marijuana also include marijuana cigarettes. They can be as addictive as nicotine and the tars from marijuana contain higher levels of some cancer-causing chemicals than tobacco. Additionally, smoking three or four marijuana joints a day can produce the same risk of bronchitis or emphysema as twenty or more tobacco cigarettes.

Also, the dangers of marijuana related emergency room visits are rising. A 1999 Drug Abuse Warning Network report found that visits to the hospital emergency departments because of marijuana use grew steadily during the 1990’s from an estimated 15,706 visits in 1990 to 87,150 in 1999. This is a 455 percent increase. Patients thirty-five years old or older experienced the largest increase in marijuana mentions (1,078 percent, from 2,160 to 25,453) from 1990 to 1999. Among children between the ages of twelve and seventeen, marijuana mentions increased 489 percent (from 2,170 to 12,784) over the same period.

The dangers of marijuana are linked to mental health problems. A February 2001 article in The British Journal of Psychiatry states that regular use of marijuana may make things worse for people who have mental health problems. Andrew Johns of the Institute of Psychiatry in London found that 15 percent of marijuana users exhibited psychotic symptoms or irrational feelings of persecution. Johns found that "an appreciable proportion of cannabis users report short-lived adverse effects, including psychotic states following heavy consumption, and regular users are at risk of dependence. People with major mental illnesses such as schizophrenia are especially vulnerable in that cannabis generally provokes relapse and aggravates existing symptoms."

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Marijuana Facts

Long-term studies of high school students and their patterns of drug use show that very few young people use other drugs without first trying marijuana, alcohol, or tobacco. Though few young people use cocaine, for example, the risk of doing so is much greater for youth who have tried marijuana than for those who have never tried it. Although research has not fully explained this association, growing evidence suggests a combination of biological, social, and psychological factors is involved.

Marijuana affects many skills required for safe driving: alertness, concentration, coordination, and reaction time. Marijuana use can make it difficult to judge distances and react to signals and sounds on the road.

Marijuana can be harmful in a number of ways, through immediate effects and through damage to health over time. Marijuana has appeared in “blunts” in recent years. These are cigars that have been emptied of tobacco and re-filled with marijuana, sometimes in combination with another drug, such as crack.

Marijuana hinders the user’s short-term memory (memory for recent events), and he or she may have trouble handling complex tasks. With the use of more potent varieties of marijuana, even simple tasks can be difficult.

Marijuana is a green or gray mixture of dried, shredded leaves of the hemp plant. Marijuana is sometimes mixed in food or brewed as a tea.

Marijuana is the most frequently used illegal drug in the United States. Marijuana is usually smoked as a cigarette (joint) or in a pipe. It is also smoked in blunts, which are cigars that have been emptied of tobacco and refilled with marijuana. Since the blunt retains the tobacco leaf used to wrap the cigar, this mode of delivery combines marijuana's active ingredients with nicotine and other harmful chemicals.

Marijuana is usually smoked as a cigarette known as a “joint”, or in a pipe or bong. Marijuana side effects often include: dry mouth and/or throat, problems with memory and learning, distorted perception (sights, sounds, time, touch), trouble with thinking and problem solving, loss of motor coordination, increased heart rate, and anxiety. These effects are even greater when other drugs are mixed with marijuana.

Marijuana smoke has a pungent and distinctive, usually sweet-and-sour odor. Marijuana smokers can have many of the same respiratory problems as tobacco smokers, such as daily cough and phlegm production, more frequent acute chest illness, and a heightened risk of lung infections.